Wednesday, April 13, 2016

This year you’ll see a blend of
styles and designs at the exhibitions– abstract and simple, iconic and
innovative, muted and loud, some monochrome others contrast. Here are top picks
from around the city one should visit at the Milan fair.

Nike presents 'The Nature of Motion'

Known
for making shoes and shaping the sports arena, Nike has widened its horizons by
trying its hand at furniture. At Salone, with a series of events, talks, and
product presentations, Nike has teamed up with 10 contemporary designers whose
work revolves around the human body’s potential and the miracle of motion. These
designers have worked closely on both conceptual and practical areas on the
theme. Martino Gamper, Lindsey Adelman
and Clara von Zweigbergk are among the few designers. Nike technology such as
flykit textiles will also be showcased.

Tom Dixon x Caesarstone

British designer Tom Dixon's second installation at Milan on kitchen concepts with Caesarstone called, ‘The Restaurant’. Following on from ‘Ice’ at IDS Toronto earlier this year, he is bringing all four elements to the table this time. Bringing four nature elements he creates four kitchen concepts – 'Earth', 'Fire', 'Water' and 'Air' – using Caesarstone’s durable wares inside the historic Rotonda della Besana. These models will be serving up conceptual food realised by Italian food design studio Arabeschi di Latte at The Restaurant where Dixon will also present his latest collection of products called Materiality. The theatrical kitchens will be interactive, with scientific cooking methods and ingredients, including air whipped meringues and hay box cooked roots and mushrooms.

Raw Edges

This year the Israeli design studio Raw Edges is all set for the new edition of contemporary design research at 5vie art + design. This exhibit particularly investigates the herringbone pattern that decorates the floors of various Stella McCartney showrooms. The installation will act as a performance, starting with the production materials they use for their experimentation with colouring woods to how the unending pattern is formed.

COS x Sou Fujimoto

Marking their fifth year of immersive installations at Salone, fashion brand COS has teamed up with Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto to create ‘Forest of Light’ this year. Built around Fujimoto’s connection with the forest-like cityscape of his hometown Tokyo, the experience will involve a room of spotlights creating tall looming structures in an intimate display. Nodding to the clean and clear lines of COS’s signature aesthetic, the interactive experience will react to visitors’ spatial awareness within the theatrical setting of Cinema Arti.

Seletti's 'Design Pride'

The Italian brand Seletti, known for bringing their vibrant party to the show, will be travelling across town this year with their design joy in a parade called 'Design Pride', part of 5vie art + design. The ‘carnival of design’ will journey on floats across the city and will showcase other designs like Toiletpaper’s jungle themed float, Pepsi’s new collaboration with Fabio Novembre and so on. The carnival will end at Piazza Affairi with a party organised by Disaronno, celebrating the launch of their limited edition printed jar, designed by Studio Job.

In my Mind(CRAFT)

MINDCRAFT will showcase the latest in Danish craft and design under the theme 'In My Mind'. The exhibition will feature the works of 16 different participants. Curated by -Italian design duo GamFratesi, this one with its breadth and quality of products will impress its onlookers.

2016/ Arita

A project which took two years to complete is ready to be showcased to the public. The Netherlands in collaboration with porcelain sector, creative directors Teruhiro Yanagihara and Scholten & Baijings have brought together 16 designers to work at ten Arita potteries. You’ll be able to witness over 300 new ceramic pieces, bringing the historical, 400-year-old skills of Arita production into the contemporary world.

Rooms: Novel Living Concepts

Curated by Beppe Finessi, this exhibition explores explores 11 different styles in 11 diverse spaces, realised by 11 modern Italian architects. The installation begins with a historical and chronological survey of Italian interior architecture, after which the visitors will experience a temporal shift, arriving at bespoke room sets including Alessandro Mendini’s prison-like view of constricted isolation and Umberto Riva’s solo minimalist living space, titled 'Proposition for a Bolt Hole'. The sequence of rooms will include a seating system by architect Carlo Ratti that he claims is the "world's first Internet of Things sofa". The exhibition will be centered on a vision of home living projected towards the future.

Hem’s Ice Cream Socials

One of the unique installations at the fair, Hem are hosting Ice Cream Socials inspired by Max Lamb’s new ‘Last Stool Splatter’. Four custom gelato flavours by Gelateria Rigoletto will be served with one matching each stool style. Hem has collaborated with Philippe Malouin, Karoline Fesser and Studio DeFORM to host the exhibition.

Before Design: Classic

Paying homage to what came before “actual” design. An exhibition-event titled, “Before Design: Classic” will reflect on the classic soul of contemporary living and the short film by multi-award winning filmmaker Matteo Garrone. In the film, traditional furniture acts as a 'protagonist' telling the story of historical design's elaborate grandeur. The film being the integral part of the exhibition-event is partnered with an exhibition, inspired by the classical Palladian villa, of different classical room sets.

Wallpaper* Arcade

For its seventh edition, thewallpaper once again takes over Via San Gregorio’s Arcade at the fair. The Hotel Wallpaper* will feature an exhibition of specially commissioned objects, furniture, fashion, food, accessories, services and installations, dedicated to the fine art of hostelry and world travel. The Arcade will also feature an installation of aluminium by Jean Nouvel and Neal Feay. In addition, Austrian lighting specialist Kalmar will join forces with the WallpaperSTORE* for a presentation of key pieces from the Kalmar catalogue, paired with production versions of Wallpaper* Handmade projects.

Lensvelt's 'Boring Collection'

Rethinking office furniture, the Dutch brand Lensvelt and Amsterdam architecture studio Space Encounters have given a new twist to workspace with 'The Boring Collection'. The collection aims to restore the balance between work and play. Not beautiful, not minimal; just inconspicuous, functional and basic. The installation is located at the Ventura Lambrate. With brands creating inconspicuous chairs and desks that blend into the workspace, wacky office furniture is out.

M/M (Paris) at Plusdesign

Partnering with Milan’s PlusDesign Gallery, Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag of the über-hip Paris design duo M/M are presenting two limited-edition pieces of modular furniture, called Citronnier and Underlay. They will stage a utopian living situation featuring furniture from the duo’s previous works as well as a new creation that combines the studio’s rigorous research methods with a new wit. The pieces will be housed within a retrospective of sorts of their creative projects, in both set and interior design. Testament to their connection with the best of the fashion world, a couple of their artistic installations will also take center stage at Milan’s Dior Homme boutique.